I hate you so is it possible to love you?
by Cortesimoe
Summary: Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are in their 7th and final year at Hogwarts, and are Head Boy and Girl. They hate each other as much as ever, and one day it goes too far. What will the consequences be?
1. Meeting old friends

**Hello. I am reposting this whole story. There were too many errors, but I have now a BETA, and the 9 first chapters have been BETA'ed, and are OK to be posted. Just so you know.**

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** Chapter 1**

_**Meeting old friends**_

Hermione Granger walked through the barrier to platform 9¾ at exactly 10.45 am on September 1st. It was the 7th and last time she would do this. It was a bit sad actually. She had started to like it. All the excitement around starting a new year and what would happen. She smiled to herself. She was made Head Girl, something she was extremely proud of. Now she couldn't wait to find out who was Head Boy. She was quite sure it would be Harry, one of her best friends. He was the obvious choice. With a smile she brushed the very bushy and brown hair out of her hazel-coloured eyes.

After finding a trolley for her luggage, she started looking for her friends. The platform was packed with students, parents, animals and luggage. Despite all of this, Hermione immediately caught sight of the Weasley family. This was not hard considering the fact that each and every member of the family had flaming red hair. They were accompanied be Remus Lupin – their former Defence Against the Dark Art Professor –, Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor Moody. All of them members of The Order of the Phoenix. She quickly made her way over to them.

"Hello," she said smiling when she reached them.  
"Hello, Hermione!" said Mrs Weasley cheerfully and gave her a motherly hug which lasted for several minutes. When she finally released her, she asked with concern in her voice: "How are you dear? How was your summer? You didn't come to visit us!"  
"It was OK," answered Hermione. "I went with my family to Spain for the whole summer. So I didn't get the time to visit you. My parents wanted me for themselves for once!" she laughed.

Then she turned to say hello to her friends.  
"Hi, Hermione!" 16-year-old Ginny Weasley literally threw herself at Hermione and gave her a 'good to see you' hug. Hermione hugged her back, glad to see the only girlfriend she had. She then turned to face a long, ungainly boy whose ears immediately turned to the shade of deep red. Hermione was about to give him a hug as well, but stopped herself in the last minute.  
"Ehm... Hi, Ron," Hermione stuttered.  
"Hi 'Mione." Ron quickly started examine his shoes. An awkward silence appeared which was ended by Harry.

"Good to see you, Hermione!" he said with a smile. Harry Potter had black hair which never lay strait, no matter how much he tried. He also had a lightning shaped scar on the right side of his forehead, and his eyes were bright green. He was almost an exact copy of his father. However, he had his mother's eyes.

"Good to see you too, Harry!"

She said 'Hello' to the remaining four people, that included Mr Weasley, when Ginny's voice broke in.

"We should probably get on board and find a compartment before everyone is full."They grabbed their belongings and quickly made their way over to the train. They helped each other getting the suitcases on board, and said their final goodbyes to Mr and Mrs Weasley, and the train started to move out of the station.

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**I know this first chapter is a bit short, but it is only an introduction. Later chapters will be longer. Please read and review :-)**


	2. The new Head Boy

**Chapter 2**

**_The new Head Boy_**

"Well, then. Should we find a compartment?" Ginny asked.  
"Yes, we might as well," Harry answered. Hermione noticed that he watched Ginny out of the corner of his eye. She smiled to herself. Why weren't they together? They had both feelings for one another, everybody could tell! She shook her head. Oh, well. That's life! Then she suddenly realised something.

"Oh, I forgot. I'm Head Girl. I'm supposed to be in the Head's compartment. And Ron," she added, "you are a prefect. You have to come along too."  
"Oh, yeah," he said rather lazily. "I wonder who's Head Boy..." he added to himself.  
"It isn't you, Harry?" Hermione said shocked. She had been so sure.  
"No," was all he said.  
"But why? I mean, you are the obvious choice! Why wouldn't Dumbledore pick you?!" Hermione looked at him with wide open eyes. Who other could he have chosen? Surely not Malfoy or any other Slytherin. Maybe a Ravenclaw? That didn't sound too bad, she thought.

"Well," Harry said with a shrug, "Dumbledore told me that he would have chosen me. But with everything going on he thought that I had other and more important things to worry about."  
Hermione nodded slowly. "Of course."  
"So, um..." Ginny had gotten all red on her ears. "Harry and I will share an compartment alone, then?" She fought extremely hard to keep her voice calm and steady. She started waving her hands a little, not sure where to put them.  
Ron grinned. "Looks like it!" he said in an evil tone. Harry shot him a look which clearly said: "I will kill you if you say one more word."

Hermione was positive that if Ron had said anything at all, Harry would have hit him right in the face. Fortunately they were interrupted by a panting voice.  
"Hi, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny." 17-year-old Neville Longbottom was dragging a huge suitcase which looked very full. He stopped dead behind them, breathing heavily. He was a plump boy who didn't do too well on magic.

"I see you haven't found a compartment yet either! Good, then I can share one with you!" he said happily with a big smile all over his sweaty face.  
"Oh. Yeah. Right. That would be nice..." said Ginny with a not-so-convincing smile. Hermione could tell she was disappointed, although Neville didn't seem to notice. He just looked happy that he had found someone he knew, instead of have to sit with some complete strangers.  
"It will be only Ginny and me, though," Harry said quickly. "They," he pointed at Hermione and Ron, "have to stay with the prefects." He didn't look too happy about how things had turned either.

Eager to start her duties, Hermione started dragging Ron by his arm down the train corridor towards to prefect's- and Head's compartments. They passed several ones which were filled with noisy students. Friends talking, girls giggling and spells being shouted. Ignoring all of this, they finally came to the last three compartments of the train. The prefects occupied two of them, the Head Boy and Girl the last one. With a stuttering 'good bye' Ron disappeared into the first one.

Hermione walked to the end of the carriage and found herself outside the door named 'Head Boy and Girl'. She reached out her hand to open it when she got a strange sensation. She couldn't explain it, but something was not right... or at least not as it should have been. Trying to shake the feeling off, she pushed the door open and walked in to reveal...

"Malfoy?!" Hermione said in disbelief. "What on earth are _you_ doing here?"  
The pale boy sat in the seat closest to the window, staring out on the landscape.  
"Apparently the same as you!" he said with a sneer without turning his head. Hermione couldn't believe her eyes.  
"Are you Head Boy?" she asked in horror. How could this have happened? It surely had to be some sort of mistake! This was Malfoy for God's sake. No one in their right mind would give him that much power. He was _bound_ to miss-use it!

He continued to stare out of the window for another couple of minutes. Then he finally turned his white-blond head to face her.  
"Why so surprised, Granger? Don't think I'm suited for the job, do you?" He had a dangerous look in his eyes which frightened Hermione, although she didn't let him see. She was not going to let him boss her around like she was some little first-year.

Before she could say anything, though, he suddenly jumped of his seat and came right at her.  
"Excuse me", he said rudely as he pushed her aside to get out of the door. He slammed it shut and was gone before Hermione could say as much as 'Quidditch'.

Having the compartment to herself Hermione started examine it. It was quite similar to the other compartments, only a bit bigger. It also had its very own toilet. Hermione stepped inside, intending to change to her school-robes. After doing so she went back to the main room and slide down into a seat. She pulled a hand trough her bushy hair and shook her head. She was quite stunned. Draco Malfoy was made Head Boy. That was just great. How was she suppose to work with him when she loathed him so much? And she knew that he loathed her as well. He always had. To him she was nothing but a filthy mudblood. Anger started building up inside her. The fact that Malfoy was Harry's enemy as well didn't help. How was he going to take it?, she wondered.

She had sat there for almost 10 minutes, trying to cool down, when it stroke her that she and Malfoy was suppose to tell the prefects what to do. And to patrol the corridors. But where was he? "_That stupid git,_" she thought furiously. "_I knew I was going to have to do everything on my own._"

Angry, she lifted herself out of her seat and made her way to the prefects compartments. Even though Malfoy left his duties, she was sure not going to! She would show everyone that she took her new role seriously. However, when she swung the prefect's door open she almost lost her balance in surprise. Malfoy was standing on the middle of the floor, apparently giving a speech. He had stopped, though, when Hermione burst inside.

"So. Head Girl finally decided she would drop by. How pleasant," said Malfoy in a voice that clearly stated that it was not pleasant at all. Hermione stared at him, confused and surprised.  
"Are you here?"  
"No, I'm over there," he said sarcastically while pointing up at the luggage rack.  
"But..."  
"Listen," he sneered. "If we are to have this meeting before the train arrives at the station, we'd better hurry."  
"Um... right..." Hermione was a little taken aback by the situation, though she recovered rather quickly. They both gave a few instructions to the new prefects, and finished the meeting off by sending a couple of them down the corridors to patrol. Malfoy disappeared again without giving her one single look, she assumed he was heading towards his fellow Slytherins. He wasn't going to patrol for a while anyway.

"_But why, though,_" Hermione thought. "_Why did he go to the meeting? I was so sure he was going to leave it all to me. What if he is up to something? But what?_" Wondering about this, she went over to where Ron was sitting and she immediately became nervous. Her heart began to beat a little faster, her hands became a little sweaty and her breathing came a little faster. Looking at her hands and all red-faced she sat down carefully. She then slowly turned to face him and told him what had been on her mind. He nodded understandingly.  
"Yeah, you might be right. He didn't seem as bully as he usually is. He didn't even bother to be rude to me!"

They didn't see much of Malfoy during the reminder of the trip. In fact, they didn't see him at all. Hermione and Ron patrolled the corridors together, and eventually found their way to the compartment occupied by Harry, Ginny, Neville and, now also, Luna Lovegood. They chattered all the way to Hogsmead Station about their summer, and when they finally arrived, emptied their compartment and went to find a carriage.


	3. Get the Hell out of here!

**Chapter 3:**

"_**Get the hell out of here!"**_

The feast was as it used to be. New students sorted, a lot of extremely tasty food, announcement of the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and Dumbledore's striking speech. It was, once again, about Lord Voldemort and "that we should all stick together". When it was all over and done with, Hermione walked with Harry and Ron to the Gryffindor tower. As she was Head Girl and therefore had the password, they were in the lead of the long line of tired Gryffindors.

They reached the picture of a fat lady in a pink silk-dress, and Hermione said the password "Thunder and plunder". It swung open and they climbed in one after the other. Met by the sight of the crackling fireplace and the down-sited arm-chairs in front of it made Hermione feel at home instantly. Oh, how she had longed to be back here! It wasn't that she didn't like it with her parents, not at all! It was just that she spend all year at Hogwarts and she had really gotten attached to it. Everything about it. Well, almost everything. There was a few things she could have been without. Like Filch, the caretaker, Malfoy and Snape, the potions teacher. But that was life. You couldn't have it all!

Feeling her eyelids starting to get heavy, she decided she should be off to bed.  
"I think I'm going to leave you two to it," she said turning to face Ron and Harry. "I'm going to be one of the walking dead any minute!" she laughed.  
"And we don't want that, do we?" Ron joked. Hermione felt a tiny blush rise in her face.  
"Yeah, we'd better go to bed too," Harry said. "Been a long day." He looked around, obviously trying to find out where Ginny had gotten to. He didn't find her, though, so he made a hand-guesture to Ron to follow him. They shouted "Good night!" over their shoulders and disappeared up the staircase to the boys dormitory. Hermione went up to her own dorm, now listed as '7th year'. She walked over to her usual bed and threw herself on to it. Ah, how good it would be to get some sleep! It felt like she hadn't slept for days. And without changing to her nightgown, she fell deep down to the land of dreams...

When Hermione woke up the next morning, her body felt stiff and awkward. She was still wearing her robes from the evening before. Narrowing her eyes against the sharp sunlight, which was coming in through a large window on the opposite wall, she swung her legs out of her bed and glared at the two other girls in the room. Lavender Brown was trying to set her hair up in some sort of odd creation while Parvati Patil put on her makeup, her face almost glued to the mirror. The girls were chattering and giggling so loudly Hermione thought she was going mental! How did they do it? What on earth could possible make them want to act like that? Annoyed she went over to her trunk to find a fresh pair of robes.

All dressed and cleaned up she walked down to the common room to meet Harry and Ron for breakfast. They both looked extremely tired.  
"What's up with you two?"  
"Didn't get much sleep last night," Harry said with a big yawn.  
"Yeah," Ron added.  
"Now, why is that?" said Hermione bossy-like as they headed for the portrait-hole. Harry merely shrugged.  
"Well," Ron began, "we sat up for hours discussing what Malfoy may be up to. And why he of all people became Head Boy. Dumbledore must've gone mental over the summer!"

The three of them climbed out of the portrait-hole and walked down the corridors in silence, lost in thoughts. Hermione didn't even notice the second-year she was about to walk right into. He had to throw himself out of the way to avoid getting stepped on!  
"Watch it, will you!" he yelled after her as he picked up his books and quills.  
"Sorry," she shouted over her shoulder, though she wasn't sure he could hear her. Embarrassed she hurried after the boys down to the Entrance Hall. It was packed with people; it seemed like every single student in the castle tried to get through the doors to the Great Hall at the same time!

Hermione frowned. What was this all about? "_Well_," she thought, "_as Head Girl it's my duty to find out._" She pushed her way through the crowd while she shouted "Excuse me, I'm Head Girl! Let me through!" As the crowd was so big, it took her some time to get past it, but she finally made it and found herself in the doorway. What she saw when she peered through was a sight for gods. Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy's faithful companions, were laying in a mess on the floor. Apparently they had tried to jinx each other, but it hadn't turned out well. Goyle was sitting on the floor with what looked like huge abscess' filled with green and yellow pus all around his body and face. Crabbe, on the other hand, was crawling on his stomach with several tentacles attached to his large head. At this very moment they tried to attack Goyle and strangle him. Four professors, among them McGonagall and Snape, were standing over the boys, trying to fix them. They all looked quite angry.  
"Sit still, you stupid boy, for heavens sake!" McGonagall's mouth was a tight line. "50 point each from Slytherin. I sincerely hope you have learned something."  
Snape was looking at the boys with disgust. However, fixing them was harder than it seemed, and they were eventually sent to the hospital wing.

"All right, show's over," Snape sneered to the laughing crowd. Hermione shook her head. How thick was it possible to get!? Trying to jinx other students right in front of the teachers!

Hermione headed for the Gryffindor table to get seats for Harry and Ron. When they sat down on each side of her she had already helped herself to some toast.  
"What was all the fuss about?" Harry asked curiously.  
"Oh, just Crabbe and Goyle who messed up a little," she answered. When both of them looked like a pair of question marks, she told them what had happened. The pair of them cracked up in laughter.  
"I knew... that they... were too thick... to do anything... at all!" Ron gasped, he was laughing so hard he almost fell off of his chair. At this, Hermione started giggle uncontrollably. And she didn't know why! It was a bit frustrating, really. She didn't manage to stop until McGonagall came to handle out the timetables. One strict look from her Head of House and Hermione fell silent.

"Great!" Harry said after a look at his classes. "We have a free period right after breakfast!"  
"Yes, we do," Hermione confirmed just as the post owls arrived. She was slight surprised to see an owl landing on the table in front of her. "_Who would send a letter to me?_" she thought surprised. She untied the letter and the owl flew away. She then looked at the piece of parchment in front of her which she unfolded and read.

_Dear Miss Granger_

_As Head Girl it would be most appreciated  
if you would come to my office after  
breakfast. The Head Boy will also be there.  
I like pumpkin juice._

_Yours sincerely  
Albus Dumbledore  
Headmaster_

Curious she stood up and gave Harry and Ron a quick 'good bye' before living the Hall. She hurried up to the corridor where the large gargoyle statue, which was the entrance to Dumbledore's office, was standing alone.  
"Pumpkin juice" she said out loud and the statue reviled a spiral-stare case. She stepped on to it, and soon she found herself outside a door. When she was about to knock, a familiar voice said: "Please, enter."

Dumbledore was sitting behind a big wooden-desk. He was wearing midnight-blue robes and his usual half-moon spectacles. When Hermione entered the room he opened his arms and welcomed her. "Ah, Miss Granger, how delightful to see you. Please take a seat." He pointed at a chair on her side of the desk. Another chair next to it was occupied by Draco Malfoy, the last person in the world Hermione wanted to see. Slowly she sat down without looking at him.

"You might wonder why I have asked you to come to this meeting. I will tell you." He looked at each of them at a time over his half-moon spectacles. "As Head Boy and Girl you are privileged by having your own common room and bathroom. These are for you only." Both Hermione and Malfoy nodded understandingly. "You may not use it if you do not want to, but it is yours to do homework or just to relax. You will find that the entrance is guarded by a picture of a boy and girl in the 6th floor. The password is 'Dingle Bingle'.

"Now, lets move on to patrolling the corridors. Four nights every fortnight you will be patrolling the corridors together from 11 pm till 2 am. Is there a problem, Mr Malfoy?" he added to Malfoy, who had given him a stunned look. After looking into the Headmasters eyes, however, he shook his head slowly. "Good," Dumbledore said. "You may leave. I dare say you wish to use some of your free time before you attend your classes." He bid them goodbye and they left the room in silence.

As Hermione wasn't very keen on walking with Malfoy, she used one of the first secret passages she found. He didn't seem too sorry she left. Glad to be alone again, she hurried to the common room to fetch her things before class. One look at the timetable told her that first class was double Ancient runes. Good, one of her favourites! She had read through the whole book, of course, and almost knew it by heart; she wanted to be prepared. She hurried to her dorm, collected her books and left quickly. She didn't see any of the boys.

Professor Mandora arrived ten minutes after Hermione. By then she had been joined by her fellow students. Nervous, Hermione walked into the classroom and seated herself at the front. What if she messed things up? "_Calm down, Hermione,_" she told herself. "_You will do just fine!_" The other students were talking loudly in excitement, but Hermione didn't know any of them. It didn't bother her much; she was too busy with her school work anyway. Nevertheless, she had to admit that she sometimes missed having a bunch of friends to hang out with. Others than just Harry and Ron. Not to mention Ginny from time to time.

Being the best student in her year, there was no surprise Hermione did very well in her first lesson. She took notes from the blackboard, listened to everything the professor said as well as asking questions – which she already knew the answers to of course – and translated all the runes perfect, even though she had big problems with one of them. This made her extremely irritated and she started pulling her hair in frustration.

When Harry and Ron were standing outside the Charms classroom an hour later they almost jumped at the sight of Hermione. Her hair was much bushier that it used to and she had red spots all over her face. She didn't look too friendly at the moment.  
"Hermione!" Harry said. "What happened to you?"  
She just waved her hand and mumbled something that seemed a lot like 'mumblefumble'.  
Without another word the three friends made their way into the classroom for another eventful hour.  
And sure it was. The trio seated themselves in the far back so that they could be able to talk unnoticed. They always did that. When everyone had found a place to sit, little professor Flitwick cleared his throat and squeaked: "Now if you would all be quiet. Today we will be practising moving charms. If you would all watch..." He rolled up his sleeves, made a little 'ahem' and pointed his wand at a soft pillow which lay on his desk while saying loud and clear "Locomotor pillow." The pillow rose up in the air and moved on command from Professor Flitwick's wand. "Now it is your turn," he told the class.

As she looked around Hermione noticed Malfoy on the other side of the room. He was sitting alone; obviously Crabbe and Goyle hadn't returned form the hospitable wing yet. It served them right when they were so stupid.

They were paired up, Hermione and Ron, Harry and Neville. Hermione noticed that Malfoy had been placed next to Lavender Brown. He had a look of deepest contempt on his face. Hermione had to turn away. He made her nausious. Staring down at her pillow she started to rehearse. All around the room she could hear 'Locomotor pillow!' as her classmates tried their best. She herself concentrated hard on her task and finally, after 10 minutes it paid off. "Look, everyone, Miss Granger has done it!" Flitwicks squeaked happily and clapped his hands.

Hermione blushed and bowed her head a little. Still, she couldn't hide her thrilled smile. She loved it when a teacher complimented her. She stared over at Ron and saw that he still had huge problems with his own pillow. He made some weird movements with his wand; not at all what they were supposed to.  
"Ron," she said slowly. "What on earth are you doing? It is not going to move if you keep doing that, you know." He scowled at her, then continued to wave his wand.  
"Didn't you pay attention at all?" said Hermione in despair.  
"As the matter of fact, no, I didn't. "  
"Oh, Ron, when are you going to learn?" She couldn't help but feel annoyed at his lack of concentration.

Ron felt annoyed too. Why did Hermione always have to interfere? Just because she was so clever and managed everything at once didn't mean that everyone could! And yes, he should have paid attention, but there wasn't much to do about that now. He tried his best to ignore her, although it was quite difficult as she kept staring at him like that.  
"What?" he said harshly.  
"Let me show you." He could hear that she tried to conceal her annoyance. At the same time she pulled out her hand and put it on his. Waves of electricity rushed through his body and red hot blotches sprawled all over his face. He swallowed with great difficulties.

Hermione saw Ron's Adam's apple move up and down when he swallowed. He was all red in his face and tried to look away. She felt rather nervous herself. It was like she had a million butterflies in her stomach flying around. Touching his warm skin made her feel dizzy. What was this? Quickly withdrawing her hand, she showed him how to wave the wand in a small circle while clearly saying the spell.  
"Locomotor pillow. See? You have to concentrate. Now you try."  
"Ehm, yes," he said awkwardly and said the words. Still nothing happened. Hemione frowned.

"Try again," she demanded.  
"I AM trying, you know..." Ron muttered darkly. Nevertheless he made one more attempt. He cleared his throat just as Flitwick had done and spoke up.  
"Locomoahhw!" Hermione had touched his arm again and this time squeezed. He lost all control over his voice and pointed the wand at her. She shrieked as something wet, cold and slimy spluttered all over her. The other students turned around to see what all the fuss was about. A few of them started laughing and soon nearly everyone had joined in. Hermione stood there paralysed for a couple of seconds before she returned to reality.  
"Ron, you... you stupid idiot!" she cried before she stormed out of the classroom.

The roar of laughter followed Hermione down the hallway. She walked as fast as she could without running. Not that she actually knew where she was going; all she knew was that she had to get away. Her heart beat faster every second, she breathed faster and was angrier then she had ever been before. What an humiliation! Oh God how she hated Ron Weasley at the moment. All she wanted was to kick something, hit something, anything! Anything to get this sticky thing off of her.

It suddenly occurred to her that her feet had taken her to the 6th floor, and before her was a picture of a boy and a girl sitting in a clearing in the wood. They seemed to have a wonderful time. "_I really feel like a shower right now,_" Hermione thought. "_That would be lovely. And I could get this disgusting 'thing' off._" With a little 'hem hem', which reminded her of Umbridge, she got the children's attention.  
"Dingle Bingle," she uttered and went inside. What revealed itself before her eyes was a gorgeous room decorated in the colours of Gryffindor and Slytherin. It wasn't as big as the Gryffindor common room, but then again it was for them only. It consisted of a fireplace, a coffee-table, two comfy-looking armchairs and a huge study-table with two chairs. Hermione walked slowly around the room, taking everything in. Finally she saw a door labelled 'Bathroom'. "_At last,_" she thought.

Behind the door was a king-size bathroom. There were tiles on floor and walls, a bathtub so large that four people could be comfortably in it, two marble sinks with golden taps and a single shower. There were also plenty of soft towels. Hermione sighed at the delightful sight. She went straight over to the shower while pulling off her clothes and jumping inside. The hot water ran down her body washing away all thoughts, making her forget that she hadn't locked the door.

Malfoy was in desperate need of a bathroom; it was urgent! He ran through the corridors towards the Head's common room as fast as he could manage without wetting his pants. He turned the last corner with too much speed, and almost lost his balance.  
"Aaaahhh!" he moaned as he crossed his legs tightly and jumped up and down on the spot. After pulling himself together he sprinted the last seventeen feet and found himself outside the portrait.  
"Dingle Bingle."  
The portrait with the boy and girl swung open and Malfoy threw himself inside. A race between the furniture immediately began; turning left to avoid the armchair, sharp right around the study-table, making a little spin because of too much speed, throwing himself to the left and landing outside the bathroom door. He ripped it open with all his strength.

"MALFOY!! Get the hell out of here!!!" To Malfoy's great surprise – and horror – Hermione Granger was standing on the middle of the floor with nothing but a towel around her head and a tiny pair of panties on. He froze and watched her as she reached for something to cover her up. She then ran across the room – against him – and slam the door shut in his face.  
"Have you never heard about knocking?" her voice roared. Malfoy felt anger rise inside him. Who did she think she was?  
"How about learning to lock the door?" he shouted back. With that he turned on the heal and went to find another toilet.

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**That was a long chapter, and I hope you all liked it :-) The next will come soon, I hope. Please read and review**


	4. The week after

******Chapter 4:**  


**__****The week after**

Hermione avoided Malfoy as best as she could all week. Fortunately he seemed to do the same thing to her. The humiliation on their first day was still strong, and Hermione couldn't help but feel disgust whenever she passed Malfoy in the hallway. He had seen her in her panties! And that was all she had worn! Imagine he had come in three minutes before... Hermione shivered by the thought of it.

"Everything all right?"  
"Hm?" Hermione was dragged out of her thoughts by the sound of Ron's voice. He had a look of concern in his eyes and scrambled eggs hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Hermione had to smile at this, as it looked so ridiculous. Nevertheless, she was still angry with him for the incident in Charms. It had cost her the larges humiliation so far, apart from the curse in fourth year, which had made her teeth grow all the way down to her knees. It did have a positive side, though. They had been a bit too long all her life, almost like horse-teeth, so when Madam Pomfrey shrank them, Hermione made sure she didn't stop until they were the size of normal teeth.

"Everything's fine," she lied. She hadn't told anyone what had happened in the bathroom, and Ron wasn't going to be the first to know!  
"OK, then." Ron didn't seem too convinced, but he turned back to his breakfast all the same, just as the post owls arrived.

It was Saturday and their first day off. It would have been a lovely opportunity to walk around the grounds, something Hermione desperately wanted to do to clean her head, but the weather gods wanted it differently. The rain was poring down non-stop, and she was forced to stay inside the castle. As she had nothing better to do, she decided to do some of the homework she had left. It would keep her mind off of certain things. After shovel down the remainder of her toast she rose and left the table with a polite 'good by' to the boys. "What was that all about?" she heard Ron's voice asking, but she continued to walk, ignoring it.

She seated herself in the Gryffindor common room, since she had developed a dislike for the Head's one, with her potions book, numbers of quills and parchment and ink. They had an essay on the Draught of living Death due on Friday, and Hermione had 5 inches left to write. It shouldn't take too long, but it would be good to be done so she could start on her Ancient Rune essay, which was due on next Monday. She had to translate some incredible complicated runes and explain their meaning and use among other things. It would surly take some time to do. She also had a book to read due on the upcoming Tuesday, though she had only 50 pages left to read.

While Hermione was buried in her homework, Draco Malfoy was sitting in his own common room, trying the best he could to push the sight of Granger in her panties to the back of his brain. Or even better: all the way out! He felt filthy and dirty just for seeing it! Was it actually that difficult to lock the door? How thick could you get!? Every normal person would lock the door on instinct if there was a risk that anyone would come in. But Granger? Nooo. He sighed just as Crabbe and Goyle entered the room. They had been let out of the hospital wing late in the evening on the day of the accident, and were now back in their usual state.

"Everything all right?" they asked at the same time. They jerked down on the sofa opposite of Draco and glared at him stupidly. He put his head in his hands and thought "_God, leave me alone, please!_" He felt like being alone right now, not hanging with these two idiots. It was their first day off, the first day he could really sit down and _think_. All week had been packed with school and homework; he hadn't had the time to think of anything else. Except from when he past her in the hallways. He always had to look away, he couldn't face her. Not that he would lay eyes on her in any case, she was a mudblood! But he had to admit that this was a different matter. He actually had to look away on purpose instead of just pretend she was thin air... God, he hated her!

Unable to sit still any longer Draco got up and walked quickly out of the common room. He started passing the corridors, no special target in mind. Just when he turned a corner on the 5th floor he bumped into something soft, which uttered the word 'OUCH!' Draco – who was lost in his own little world – was taken by surprise, lost his balance and fell on top of this soft thing. Swearing, he hastily rolled over to see what, or who, it was. On the floor beside him half lay, half sat a beautiful dark headed Ravenclaw girl.  
"Watch it, will you!" he spat before he dragged himself up and left. 'Sorry' was not a word he took in his mouth unless he spoke to his parents.

"Well well. I see you have started attacking 5th year girls now." Blaise Zabini, a Slytherin boy in Draco's year, was standing a few feet ahead of him, a humorous grind on his face. Apparently he had witnessed the whole scene and found it absolutely hilarious.  
"Shut up." snarled Draco.  
"Oh, Draco, come on! It was just a stupid girl, nothing to get all upset about. Geez man!" Blaise said rolling his eyes. Draco looked at him for a couple of seconds, then shrugged and headed down the corridor. Blaise hurried after. "What time is it?"  
"11.30," said Draco after a quick peek at his watch. He was surprised that it was that late, walking along the corridors had indeed given time wings to fly on!

At noon Hermione had finished both her potions essay and her book. Satisfied with her work she decided to take a well-earned break. She went up to her dorm with her equipment before returning to the common room. It was quite full thus the bad weather, so she quickly scanned it to locate the people inside. Her eyes fell on Ginny, who had just climbed through the portrait hole. She felt relieved she saw someone she knew, and besides, she hadn't talked to her at all during this week.

"Ginny!" Hermione had to yell to drown the noise of all the chattering students and hurried over to her.  
"Hi, Hermione," said Ginny smiling. "How are you?"  
"I'm fine, thanks," answered Hermione. "I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk. You know," she said with a shrug, "to catch up." Ginny didn't mind, and the two girls made their way through the mass of people and climbed out of the portrait hole. The hallway was practically empty.  
"It's a pity the weather's so bad. I'd prefer to be outside," said Ginny moody. Hermione couldn't have agreed more. It was really depressing.

"So how's your studies going?" Ginny asked Hermione.  
"Good, I suppose," she answered thoughtful. "I have a huge Ancient Rune essay which has to be done by next Monday, but I just can't bear to start on it! It's so unlike me..." At this Ginny started to laugh, and soon after Hermione followed. She wasn't sure why it was so funny, but for some reason it was! She fell to the ground, shaking with laughter, hoping no one was watching. At the same time Ginny had to lean against the wall to prevent herself from doing exactly the same. The whole situation was so absurd that it made the girls laugh even more.

"Hermione!" gasped Ginny after what seemed like hours. They both sat on the floor with their backs against the wall. Hermione hadn't laughed like that in ages. It felt so wonderful, so liberating.  
"Mhm?" she said panting. Ginny breathed slowly in and out to control herself. "Want to go to the library?" she said. "You know," she added with a grin, "just to go somewhere." Standing up, they continued down the hallway, talking.

Suddenly they heard voices coming form around the corner. Still in a giggling-mood, Ginny tugged Hermione by the arm and dragged her through an open door. Settling themselves behind it, the girls peered out as the voices drew nearer.

"...told her I wouldn't, and she started to cry. Can you imagine!"

"It's Malfoy," whispered Ginny. Hermione didn't answer. She was very grateful she was in here instead of out there...

"So what did you do?" said another voice.  
"Well, nothing," Malfoy's voice spoke. "And then she ran away..."

The voices faded away and were replaced by a heavy silence. Hermione wondered what that was all about. Probably Pansy Parkinson or something, she remembered seeing the two of them together. They were probably dating or something. The thought made her giggle. They deserved each other. One just as unappetizing as the other! This lead her to the bathroom-episode. She wondered whether she should tell Ginny about it, or if she should leave it. After thinking about it she decided that Ginny wouldn't tell anyone. It would be safe.


End file.
